Blessed be the Rebirth of my Letterboxd Account

Three years ago, my evil “short-film director” ex-boyfriend begged me constantly to get Letterboxd (can you tell he’s that kind of film guy?), and after our tragic breakup after three months when he told me he never even liked me (yikes 😬), I thought I had box'd my last letter. But thank Roth I recently realized how much of a tragedy and loss to the world that would be. Under some slight pressure from my new boyfriend (supposedly not evil… but we’ll see), I revitalized my account (aptly named billntedfanatic) over break. 

Needless to say, as a true film connoisseur (and someone with a lot of free time), my Letterboxd account grew tremendously, boasting a new 43 reviews since its revitalization in late December. Some standout honorable mentions have to be all four Die Hard movies (the quintessential Christmas movie series), Princess Diaries 1 and 2 with a side of Princess Protection Program, and of course, all of The Lord of the Rings movies plus the 1977 animated classic: The Hobbit.

However, my boxding game has been sorely lacking the past few months with only a few new additions. It’s been a rough semester with boatloads of classwork, neverending readings, only one day of the Usdan vegan baked mac and cheese, and of course, evil Israel month over at the CFA. But despite the horrors, no longer shall my doting and dedicated 6 followers (one of which I don’t even know in real life!) lament over the loss of my incredible masterfully crafted reviews, for I vow to make a strong effort to attend as many Wesleyan Film Series screenings as I can for the foreseeable future. But until I can dig myself out of the ever expanding and suffocating pit of homework I have somehow become trapped in, I shall leave you with my most vital and crucial review of the only movie I’ve seen in THE Goldsmith Family Cinema at THE Jeanine Basinger Center for Film Studies this semester.

Twas the night of Saturday, February 21st, when I saw an Instagram post reminding me about the mysterious film I’d been longing to see ever since reading a vague description of it on the Wesleyan Film Series poster: “Viet and Nam.” Memories flashed through my mind of something about gay people, coal mines, and of course a tragic ending.

I was so incredibly excited to set foot in the theatre for the first time in ages, but I was tragically 15 minutes late to the showing (of course because of something totally unavoidable and out of my control). But I’m sure they weren’t that important seeing that I was easily able to catch on to the plot and goal of the protagonists at least 10 minutes before the movie ended. What I did know though was that the film had consistently beautiful scenes and imagery that was entrancing. A few moments in particular though have stayed with me through the days as I think back fondly on the feeling of being immersed in the amorous and sensual visuals of the protagonist eating a ball of earwax from his lover’s ear and licking the anal blood off of his stomach. And I clearly wasn’t the only one…

But seriously though, I found this movie complex beyond what anyone (except for me of course) could understand fully on a single watch through, and the final scene left me in awe with a deep and unreachable pain twisting in the pit of my stomach. I would highly recommend this film to any one who could lock in enough to sit through this long and slow unraveling of an intense and visceral love that has to navigate through the divided and haunted past, present, and future of their country in the wake of war, pain, and loss. 

To quote the harrowing words of Letterboxd’s lenzbian, “imagine being in those mines and finding two twinks covered in soot freaking it out.”